All We Can't See: Australian Labor Party 48th National Conference

After successful shows in Sydney and Melbourne, All We Can't See travelled to Adelaide in December 2018 to hang within the entrance foyers of the Australian Labor Party’s National Conference, 16-18th December at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

This is where the Australian Labor Party was deciding on their immigration and refugee policies for the 2019 Federal election.

As Labor delegates walked into the Adelaide conference foyers and through our exhibition each day they were faced with what both governments have tried to keep out of sight and mind for so long - the horrific human toll of offshore detention, as illustrated by Australia’s leading artists.

Artist Alex Seton created a work titled ‘A Durable Solution?’ specifically for this event, 6 marble tombstones engraved with the names of those who have died in our offshore processing centres. This was installed prominently on the floors of the conference. Read more here.

We used this exhibition to call for an immediate end to offshore detention, for the refugees there to be brought to safe and secure futures in either Australia or other safe alternative third countries, and for the development of sustainable and humane refugee and immigration policies.

All We Can't See - Melbourne

The second installation of All We Can’t See in Melbourne, 31 July – 11 August 2018 at fortyfivedownstairs.

Australia’s award-winning artists such as Ben Quilty, Janet Laurence and Abdul Abdullah joined forces once again to bring to Melbourne All We Can’t See: Illustrating the Nauru Files. The exhibition depicts individual interpretations of the leaked Nauru files exposed by The Guardian in 2016, illuminating the stark human cost of Australia’s policies of offshore detention.

Distinguished artists such as Blakdouglas, Stanislava Pinchuk, Khaled Sabsabi, Mirra Whale, Ian Strange and Hoda Afshar joined the tour for this second leg, forming a growing visual petition about the urgency of the humanitarian crisis taking place on Manus and Nauru.

We also created a series of short films recording Australian public figures such as Paul Kelly, Kate Miller-Heidke, Dr Susan Carland and Benjamin Law reading the Nauru Files aloud in an effort to raise further awareness online in the lead up to the exhibition and to mark 5 years of indefinite detention on Manus Island and Nauru. Read more here.

The Nauru Files are Australian stories. They are the consequence of Australian government policies, and they are shaping our national identity.

All We Can’t See urges us to read and engage with these important stories, so that we may understand not just the brutal reality of offshore detention, but also ourselves as Australian citizens. Can we live with these truths?

All We Can't See - Sydney

In August 2016 The Guardian published The Nauru Files, leaked incident reports written by staff in Australia's detention centre on Nauru between 2013 and 2015.

These files detail 2,116 individual cases of assault, sexual abuse, self-harm, child abuse and abhorrent living conditions endured by asylum seekers in the care of the Australian Government. Despite the harrowing nature of the files, the conditions remain and the abuse is ongoing.

Created by Arielle Gamble and Daniel New with the support of Human Rights Watch, Morna Seres and Heidi Forbes, All We Can’t Seeaims to raise awareness about the human cost of Australia’s offshore processing policies by calling on Australia's leading artists to illustrate these files, using art to shed light on all we can't see.

The Yellow House exhibition in Sydney ran from 2–10 February 2018, and showcased works by 33 award-winning Australian and international artists:

2040

Design, illustrations & layout for the book 2040: A Handbook for the Regeneration

Accompanying the acclaimed film 2040 by Damon Gameau, 2040: A Handbook for the Regeneration shows us that climate change is a practical problem that can be tackled one small step at a time, and that we can make a genuine difference - if we know what to do. This book explores the existing technologies that we can harness to combat global warming and create a sustainable and exciting future for the world.

‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.’ - Margaret Mead

Published by Pan Macmillan 2019.

New stitchings 2018

Bluey, 2018

Hessian, calico & embroidery

Our Home

‘It isn’t always easy being a koala, just ask Gum’.

A storybook about the what’s happening to our koalas, written by myself & illustrated by Mark Gerada.

Commissioned by Dreamworld Wildlife Fund after the success of the Koala Land research report.

Stitching 2

While it lasted, 2018

Hessian, calico & embroidery

Beyond the Noise

Book design for a catalog of the film ‘Beyond the Noise’, a film by Andrew Kaineder.

‘Distracted by realities of our own invention, the natural world becomes invisible, technology is our king.

As the cracks in our society spread, two surfers seek refuge in the vastness of the ocean, away from the deafening clamour of humankind.

Unchained and dangerously close to freedom.’

Stitching 3

Big Skies

Album design for 'Big Skies', latest album from Mere Women, available June 16 through Poison City Records

Stitchings

Jayden’s Conception 2018

Hessian, calico & embroidery

Murals

Mural designs of Sydney long, long ago, a collaboration with Little Moon Studio

New Gallery

On seafaring, 2019

Hessian, calico & embroidery

Stained Glass

An exploration of a year spent in a dust-blown Australian country town

Stitching 1

Heavy machinery, 2017

Hessian, calico & embroidery

The Common Ground

‘The Common Ground, a contemporary exploration of the ways we think about land’. Collaborative project with Madelin Fuller, self-published. Exhibited at Object Gallery as part of DesignNow!

Roadkill the sweetie

Roadkill the sweetie, 2019

Hessian, calico & embroidery

Koala Land

A project by Mark Gerada. The objective of this report was to explore ways of creating a sustainable future for koalas on the Koala Coast, South East Queensland, Australia. My role in the project was design & illustration, and was a lovely collaboration between myself and Mark. The ink washes & writing is my own, the pencil is Mark's. The look & feel of the entire project was built together.